


A Thousand Years

by sometimesleia (orphan_account)



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29123229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/sometimesleia
Summary: "Her eerie silence as he went back, clawing through the debris, tears pouring from his trembling face. Her blackened corpse, as he held her in his arms, salty droplets grazing her once beautiful features before hitting the ground. His pained howls and wails, that no matter how loud, couldn’t bring her back.He had survived, and she had not."--- ❝ in which Dream loses the love of his life (Eliza, OC) to a fire, but then is approached with an offer to bring her back to his side again. Will he race across time and other boundaries, just to be with her for a thousand years more? ❞
Relationships: Clay/Reader, Dream/Original Character, Dream/Reader, Tubbo/Reader, Tubbo/original character
Kudos: 3





	1. prequel

**Author's Note:**

> all characters included in this fanfic are purely fictional, meaning that its contents don't apply anything to the actual people in real life. 
> 
> eliza is the main pov, although she isn't necessarily your traditional Y/N. the reader (you) will be mostly seeing the story take place through her eyes, although i may jump from dream to eliza to other characters depending on whose perspective can capture the moment best. 
> 
> each pov included in the chapter will be marked in the author's notes, or the chapter name.

\- - -

The hot tongues of fire licked her skin, seemingly dancing around her in a trance. The room was foggy, filled with gray from floor to ceiling.

Eliza sat up in fright.

Smoke was everywhere. She nearly choked, unconsciously inhaling the thick gray fumes. Her eyes watered, then widened.

“Dream!” Eliza called out, jumping out of the bed. Not caring if her feet burned as she ran through the flames, she shouted out desperately. “Dream!”

As she skidded to a halt in front of his bedroom door, she heard muffled yells and furious pounds on the door from within. Unnoticingly, tears began streaking down her ash covered cheeks as she tugged at the unbudging door handle.

“Dream!” She continued calling out, looking for some way to break the door. The smoke was getting thicker all around, forcing her near suffocation. Her mind was torn. She needed clean air and a damp towel to filter the air, but if she left Dream here for another second, he may just faint from inhaling too much of the toxic air.

Her brows furrowed, as the tears started pouring down even faster out of sheer panic. She forced herself to calm down, tensing up her body and forcing her brain to focus. Reluctantly, she dictated herself to realize that she can’t help him if she’s in danger of fainting herself.

Promising herself that she’ll come back for him, she crawled her way to the entrance of the house.

Outside was a faucet. She quickly turned it on and dampened a towel for ease of breathing, and lugged a bucket of water back to the house. On a second thought, she traded her bucket of water for an axe from the shed instead.

Hurriedly running and panicking more and more with every passing second, she reached Dream’s room after what seemed like an eternity. Her eyes were overflowing with salty tears as she yelled for Dream to back away from the door. She raised up the axe and embedded it in the wooden door.

Dream's slack body was what awaited her on the other side. She nearly flew to his side in desperation, shaking his shoulders out of fear. Checking his pulse, her eyes glimmered with hope.  
"Dream?" Eliza whispered, worried about what might come next. "Dream, can you hear me?"

He raspily groaned in response, barely moving.

Desperately, she slapped his face. A tear made its way down her cheek onto his, hissing when it hit the hot surface of his skin. She blinked through a film of tears, realizing that he inhaled too much of the toxic gas and fainted as a result.

Struggling, she ferried him onto her back. She made her way through the scorching hot blaze with trembling legs, trying her best to keep the wet rag covering her own nose and mouth. Simultaneously, her feet navigated the ground quickly and nimbly to avoid the numerous fires ablaze on the wooden floor.

Finally, she reached the front door. The doorknob was metal, and poisonously hot to the touch. Removing the dampened rag from her nose, she covered the doorknob with it. Her breath suspended in her throat, her ashen hands made their way to the knob, tugging it with all the strength she had. Finally, it begrudgingly turned, revealing a calm midnight landscape shrouded in moonlight.

Stunned momentarily by the rush of cold midnight air, she nearly collapsed as soon as she stepped out, the oak door slamming shut behind her.

Stumbling her way towards the creek near their home, she took one last look at the fiery inferno behind her. Their shared home, now up in flames. It was filled with happy memories of their first nights and days together, their numerous arguments and fights that were all eventually resolved in lovely kisses, his constant sweet and kind comforting words...

This all motivated her to keep moving, despite the throbbing, stabbing pain from the numerous burns on her body. Stepping on the pine needles of the forest, she tried her best to navigate the dark path, lit up only by the flaming carnage behind her.

She tried her best to keep her head leveled. She fought off the urges to just lay down and rest, to give up on trying so hard… to stop the constant stabbing pain that came with each step, the near numbness of her feet.

The rush of the creek was a rewarding sound, as she finally stepped on the damp riverbank soil. Her ankles and feet were completely torched black, as she finally collapsed.

\- - -


	2. who... are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ❝ in which dream realizes... eliza doesn't remember him? ❞

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pov; eliza's.
> 
> time skip of roughly 16 years in human time for eliza, 1 month in nirvana time for dream.
> 
> (see the end notes for more information on the terms used within this chapter and how they tie in with this alternate universe, like "buddhism", "nirvana", "the Grandmaster"..)

\- - -

Hurriedly, Eliza ran to her locker. It was 8:14, and only a few people lingered in the courtyard. There were only 6 minutes left before school started. If she wanted to make a good impression on the teachers (which she did), she would have to make it to class by at least 8:15. 

Her stomach churned from a mix of anxiety and fright. It was the first day of her Junior year.

Hands stumbling, her hands slipped, and down went her pencil case. She silently cursed under her breath, annoyed. If only she hadn’t taken so long in the closet, carefully weighing out the options of her limited items, she wouldn’t be having this problem right now.

“Hey, do you mind moving a little?” She heard a guy’s voice behind her and a flash of neon green. “My locker’s kinda… right around there.”

Startled, she turned around with a start and apologized sheepishly. The guy awkwardly chuckled with a twinkle in his eye as he accepted her apology.

“I’m Dream.” He blurted out, without meaning to. Awkwardly, he shook his blonde hair out of his eyes and gently handed her back her pencil case. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay! Don’t worry about it.” Eliza smiled, if not a little bit taken aback with such an odd name. She wondered if this was a prank, him giving her a different name rather than his real one. 

Shoving those thoughts towards the back of her mind, she accepted her pencil case with one last apologetic thank you. Hurriedly stepping aside to let Dream get to his own locker, she quickly shoved her backpack into her own, just barely managing to get it in before shutting the door with a click. Checking her watch, she cursed under her breath as she ran off to her class.

However, Dream stood there for a good second, his eyes wistfully lingering on her receding back, running across the courtyard. It stayed there until she turned and finally disappeared from view. He sighed, dropping his gaze onto the ground.

“She doesn’t remember me.”

\- - -

The day flew by in a blur. It was generally a good first day, as the first days of school go. The first day back from Summer break was always hectic, filled with excited hellos and descriptions of visits to the beach and what not. Eliza didn’t see Dream again for the rest of the day. 

She had almost all but forgotten about him, until the next day.

Walking into her first period, she spotted Dream sitting in the seat next to her’s. A little bit confused, she walked to her teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, to ask what was going on.

“Oh, he’s just a new student.” She smiled, waving her towards her seat. “Please do try your best to get along, dear.” 

Class was about to begin, as she cautiously took her seat next to Dream. 

Her brain whirred, linking this guy’s face to the one that had bumped into her near her locker just yesterday. 

Avoiding eye contact, she pulled out her planner and pencil. She began to doodle in the margins of her planner, as she waited for Ms. Rodriguez to finish writing on the whiteboard. She was going on and on about her summer, and how fun it was in Costa Rica with her husband, and all the beaches and fashion and shopping and food and just how beautiful everything was. Eliza rolled her eyes discreetly and continued to draw.

“Hey, maybe don’t do that.” Dream looked over, raising an eyebrow good-humoredly. Eliza warily turned to face him, shutting her planner shut in the process. “I mean, let’s pay attention to her? It’s only our second day, after all. Wouldn’t want to leave a bad impression.”

“It’s whatever. I’ve already got a teacher flagged down for my recommendations.” She sighed, resting her head on the desk. She looked over at him with a questioning glance. “What’s it to you?”

“Oh, um...” Dream coughed, pretending to be absorbed in his own planner. His curled tousles shaded the side of his face, leaving his expression up to imagination. “I don’t know, just don’t really like it when other people don’t care about their teachers.”

“It’s not like that.” Eliza looked up, and saw that Ms. Rodriguez had finished writing down the work for today (and had also put a stop to her Costa Rica ramble). Taking her notebook out from her stack of supplies, she flipped open to the first page and began drawing out a table of contents. “I just plan ahead, and allow myself time to breath.”

“How so?” Dream asked, also looking up and copying down the whiteboard’s contents onto his own blank pages. “Do you mean you allow yourself time to breath, as in being disrespectful to the very people educating you about the world?”

Eliza’s eyebrows pressed together in a frown. What does this guy want?

She quickly turned her head towards him, a scowl on her face. Angrily, she whispered;

“Look, I don’t know why you’re asking all this stuff, and honestly? I don’t want to know.” Pressing her lips together, she continued with a sigh. “What I do know is that I’d like to maintain my 4.2, hurry through my classes with no problems, and be all set to graduate early next year, with all my college applications and essays completed and a-okay, alright?”

“Understood.” Dream seemed a bit taken aback. He allowed himself a small, wistful smile as he muttered under his breath; “You’re just as I remember.”

“I’m... what?” Eliza’s scowl deepened as she took in his words. Crossing her arms, she sharply whispered “Excuse me, who are you?”

“Ah, my bad.” Dream cleared his throat, deciding to try his hand at a joke to distract. “I meant to say that to my notebook. You know, I haven’t seen this ol’ beauty over a long, long summer.”

Eliza squinted, a bit suspicious. She decided to let this take a back seat in her mind, as she began to fully absorb the information spewing quickly from Ms. Rodriguez’s mouth. She was explaining this year’s expectations and topics that will be covered at rapid-fire speed, as Eliza’s pen hurriedly moved up and down, struggling to keep up. She had just managed to jot down the final point before Ms. Rodriguez began passing the syllabus down each row.

“I knew I shouldn’t have taken AP Literature...” Eliza muttered under her breath, resting her forehead on her hands. Taking a deep breath, she accepted the stack of papers from her classmate with a smile. Swiping off the top paper, she passed it over her shoulder to the classmate seated behind her.

“You seem like someone who would ace this class, forgive me.” Dream noted, not looking up from scanning his own syllabus with precision. He glanced sideways at her, grinning. “After all, you did ace every single test back in-”

He stopped himself, feeling his cheeks redden from a mixture of embarrassment and endearment both. Did he say that out loud?

He glanced at her, all hope lost the moment he saw her expression.

Eliza looked at him with a look of pure confusion, anxiety, and fear. She had heard about stalkers before; people prowling the streets of the internet, looking for prey. She never thought it would be happening to her. She hated herself, at that moment, for letting her friend Toby talk her into streaming on that stupid platform Twitch.

Shuffling her papers and notebooks, she wordlessly got up and walked to Ms. Rodriguez. She made sure not to look back.

\- - -

“Fuck!” Dream angrily punched the bathroom wall. The person in the next stall nervously cleared their throat.

All he had to do was to make Eliza remember him. Why is it so hard? The Grandmaster had told him that love is a connection, if not the only connection that can withstand any trial. It was the card that could change it all.

So why couldn’t Eliza remember him?

Did she not love him as much as he did her? All their past history, all the time spent under starry nights and bright blue skies… Why did she not remember?

He had lost her once; in that terrible, terrible fire, that set everything alight. All of his possessions had been engulfed in a sea of orange and yellow, with he himself nearly suffering third-degree burns. 

However, he survived. Because of her, because of Eliza. 

Her eerie silence as he went back, clawing through the debris, tears pouring from his trembling face. Her blackened corpse, as he held her in his arms, salty droplets grazing her once beautiful features before hitting the ground. His pained howls and wails, that no matter how loud, couldn’t bring her back.

He had survived, and she had not.

The Grandmaster had appeared then, to try and explain to Dream what was going on. Dream had swung his sword at him, attacking him mindlessly through a film of tears once he heard that The Grandmaster couldn’t bring her back.

A day later, he came back for another visit. By then, Dream had calmed down substantially and was reasonable enough to listen to him without balling up his fists. The Grandmaster had told him what he knew now, anxiously peering at him from the top of his half-moon spectacles, sitting on top of a burnt tree stump amongst the sea of debris.

Dream now knew that Eliza, along with all other dead souls, made their way to the front gates of Nirvana. Once there, they were all reassigned to a body, depending on their karma collected during their alive years. Eliza was one of the better ones; thus explaining her reassignment to a human body instead of something like an inanimate object.

It was then that The Grandmaster offered him a glimmer of hope. Love, he had said kindly, can overcome all of these obstacles. It can make someone remember their previous life, even after being reborn, with the one they loved most.

But it could only happen with outside help. Eliza couldn’t remember the past just by herself, he said. Dream had to help her along. For her to remember the past, she has to have outside help from someone close to her, connected to her through love so strong that it can withstand anything. If he was truly confident in their love, he had to come to her current life and relentlessly remind her of him, and in the process, her past life.

“Now, this hasn’t been done before,” The Grandmaster had fiddled with his long white beard nervously. His grip on his strangely colored pink gemmed staff grew tighter, as he continued tremulously. “I- I mean  _ we _ , over at the Council, have no idea if this can work. But we wanted to at least test it out, as to offer a wider range of rebirth choices to kindred souls like Eliza.”

“What’s the catch, if there is one?” Dream tensed, leaning against a tree trunk overgrown with moss. He toyed with the loose, frayed ends of his tunic. “I’m not accepting the bargain unless the consensus is that yes, this will be successful.”

“It will, it will. Don’t worry.” The Grandmaster reassured. He gently pushed his spectacles further upon his nose bridge and continued. “Scientifically speaking, this should work just fine.”

“And there’s nothing else you need to tell me?” Dream pressed, staring at him intently with cold, startling green eyes. The Grandmaster shivered from head to toe, even under the warm sunlight of Winter. Dream’s glares have that effect on people. “ _ Nothing? _ ”

“You’ll only have two months.” The Grandmaster sank away from Dream, carefully backing away a couple of steps for good measure. He gulped, a little bit worried. After all, Dream was a trained warrior. Lord knows what he might resort to, once upset. “Two months to remind her of all the precious memories of love with you. After that, the portal to Nirvana will close, and your chance will be gone.”

“Wait, Nirvana?” Dream’s eyebrows furrowed. “You didn’t tell me about that part.”

“I know, I know-” The Grandmaster was close to positively taking off now, his hair roots quickly turning pastel pink under stress. He exhaled sharply, attempting to cover up his roots with his hand. “Please listen!”

“You two will be given a chance to be reborn into another life, where you will stay together for at least three more lifetimes.“ He now drew up his cloak hood, in one last desperate attempt to cover up his now fully pastel hair. “It’s the least we could do, in return for you testing out this theory for us.”

“And if I fail?” Dream picked at his nails carefully, flicking away the debris under them. His eyes were watery as he looked up and fixed his gaze on The Grandmaster. “What happens then?”

“Well…” He uneasily shifted his weight from foot to foot, scratching the back of his neck out of anxiety. “Our best guess is that both of you will dissipate from life as we know it, sprinkling your respective energies into the world.”

“I won’t get to be by her side, ever again?” Dream was trembling, collapsing into a heap of emotions so strong that they overwhelmed his nerves. He buried his hands in his hair, nearly tearing out his roots in frustration. “If I fail to convince her that we were once in love in this two month period, we both dissipate and I’ll never see her again?”

“That’s right.” The Grandmaster slowly exhaled, careful to not set Dream off any further. He swallowed, thinking of some positives that might make the situation better. “But if you succeed, we’ll guarantee three more lifetimes together. Three happy lifetimes, filled with more laughter and joy than you can ever think of. And after that, it’s straight to Nirvana for you two!”

Dream continued sobbing as if he didn’t hear him. His eyes overflowed with salty tears as he rocked back and forth, curled up like a ball.

The Grandmaster studied Dream, not knowing what else to do. He noted that he had multiple scars across his body and face, no doubt from battles previously fought. Dream’s cloak was in tatters, and so was his tunic and trousers. However, this only let his toned, chiseled muscles shine through even more.

A plain white ceramic mask was slung on his belt, alongside a few small, concealable weapons of choice such as darts and throwing knives. Even in his sleep, The Grandmaster noted, Dream kept his necessary supplies and weapons on him.

He could tell from these remnants of his life, that Dream used to be some sort of fighter. And probably a remarkable one, at that.

“You know, I was hired by her parents, the rulers of this kingdom, to protect her.” The green-shirted man began, choking out these words amidst strangled sobs. Nonetheless, he continued, tears running down his weather-worn face. “I was supposed to protect her, and look at me now! She sacrificed her entire life, to protect me against the flames when it was me who should’ve sacrificed mine to save her…”

The Grandmaster pressed his lips together. Sighing, he began to speak.

“You know, I used to have someone who I loved with my entire existence before I achieved enlightenment and became The Grandmaster.” He took a seat next to Dream, brushing off the ashes from the ground before sitting down. “They died long before I reached enlightenment, and I felt my heart grow harder and colder every day after their passing.”

“What I did next was cowardly,” He continued, feeling his tears beginning to well up. Blinking furiously, he used the corner of his tunic to dab at the wetness pooling in the corners of his eyes. “I took my own life. And then I took the lives of the people who I thought were behind her death.”

The Grandmaster took a moment for himself, to let his tears and emotions run free. Even though this happened centuries, even decades ago, it still shamed and wounded him whenever he thought back to it. He took a deep breath, calming himself enough so that his next words won’t tremble.

“I’ve never seen her since.” He looked down at his feet, bleary-eyed. “It’s what motivated me to push The Council to give people more chances to be with the one they love, for at least a thousand years more.”

They both didn’t speak for the next few minutes. Words seemed unbefitting, as he walked over to The Grandmaster and put his arms around him in support.

“I understand.” Dream said, squeezing The Grandmaster’s shoulder. Making up his mind, he continued. “I will go and try my best to test this theory out. Mark my words.”

\- - -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fanfiction will incorporate elements of buddhist beliefs, especially regarding the afterlife. so below are some terms relating to buddhism used in this chapter!
> 
> nirvana - the heaven of sorts, the place you go after accumulating enough karma in your human lifespan. its front gates, in this story, is where all souls arrive after death, to have their karma calculated and rebirth assigned. (also the place where The Council operates)
> 
> karma - actions driven by intentions that lead to future consequences. these intentions are key determining factors in rebirth in samsara, the cycle of rebirth.
> 
> terms/lore exclusive to this alternate universe;
> 
> The Council - overlooks all affairs of the afterlife, ensuring that everything runs smoothly. consists of five members (including the GM), each there to look over a different aspect of the afterlife.
> 
> The Grandmaster - the head of The Council. all unordinary cases are handed to him for the final ruling and decision.


	3. the cherry grove, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ❝ in which dream and eliza's backstory, as well as and toby and eliza's, are revealed. ❞

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eliza's pov.
> 
> **this is a flashback of the time and universe before the previous chapter's, where eliza was a princess dwelling in her kingdom, and dream her bodyguard.

\- - -

“This is your new guard.” Mother dearest had said, leading in a man dressed from head to toe in eye-blinding neon. Eliza studied him from the corner of her eye, whilst pretending to be absorbed in a novel that she had found lying around. A ceramic mask covered his face, a simplistic smile drawn on top. A linen hooded cloak covered his shoulders and head, with a tool belt packed full of weapons at his hips. 

He waved at her.

She glanced back to her book, pretending to not have noticed.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Mother sighed, gesturing the new guard to take a seat in one of the plush sofas that furnished the otherwise simple room. “She’s just a little upset, you know how kids get. Don’t mind her.”

Eliza pursed her lips and felt her grip on her book harden. She was a fully grown 20 year old woman. 

The previous day, her parents had broken off her brief romance with the prince from the Smith kingdom, Toby. Today, she was still in denial, as she formulated plans left and right to go and meet him in the familiar cherry grove where they passed away many a sun-filled happy afternoon. 

But now, all of these plans have been disrupted with the introduction of this… neon green guy?

She turned and looked at him, the curiosity getting the best of her in the end.

He was studying the portrait of Toby that she had on her fireplace mantelpiece, having walked over from the plush couches. The fire in the fireplace had gone out a while ago, with the maid not bothering to replace it. He began to run his finger over the handwoven wooden picture frame that surrounded Toby’s smiling face, seemingly interested in the intricate pattern woven throughout.

“Don’t touch that.” Eliza stood up, setting her book down. Her steely gray eyes settled on where his eyes should be, under the mask. “Those are my things.”

Within a flash, he was back on the couch, pretending as if nothing happened. 

Eliza contemplated the choices now in front of her, with the introduction of this new factor in her life. Doubtlessly, he has been asked by her parents to watch over her every single move, in fear that she’ll try to sneak out and see Toby again. Her eyes glimmered, as she thought of some way to gain some leeway with this guy.

“Can you talk?” She walked over to him, deciding on what she was going to do. Stepping in front of him confidently, she suddenly sank into a straddle on his lap. Her hands found their way under his tunic, as she hooked one hand behind him onto his back and with the other, unclasped his cloak. It sank into a crumple of brown linen on the gleaming wooden planks.

Amorously, she whispered into his ear, “I think I know a way to make you… talk.”

He tensed under her, tightening his grip on the couch’s arms. She could feel his bulge grow harder under her, as she began unbuttoning her blouse. He gulped, not sure what to do. Eliza smirked, as she leaned forward with her lips parted to nick at his ear.

“Hey… Stop it.” He muttered, turning his head away. Clearing his throat, he sheepishly continued, “We shouldn’t be doing this. I don’t even know you.”

“What’s the harm?” She shrugged off her blouse, letting it crumple into a heap of fabric on the ground. Eliza smiled seductively, now being only in her silken underdress. “Nobody will know. The doors and windows are all locked, and nobody will walk in. If both of us swear to secrecy, we could be doing this every day if you want to.”

“I...” She could hear the hesitation, mixed in with an undoubted wanting in his tone. Eliza smirked, knowing that her well-developed bosom must’ve caught his eye as he turned away sheepishly. “I don’t know...”

“Come on.” She began slowly grinding her hips against the hard tent in his pants. Pouting, she whined and twirled her glistening dark hair around her finger. “I never get to do this with anyone, and I’ve dreamt of it so much. Can’t you just help me out?”

He didn’t respond. 

“Here, I’ll get rid of this troublesome thing for you-” Eliza began reaching towards the back of his head, where inevitably the hook and clasp to his mask was. However, he interrupted her with a shove, sliding her off his lap and onto the ground.

“What the hell?” She angrily yelled, her bottom a little bit hurt. Dusting off her silk underdress, she furiously walked toward him. “What is wrong with you?”

“I should ask the same of you.” His back was toward her, as he secured his mask in place. Picking up his cloak, he drew it over himself and clasped it back in place. “What _was_ that?”

“My longing for someone to fuck, that’s for sure.” Eliza shoved him, only successful in making him shake a little. He stood still, not bothering to move. “Do you know how boring it is here? Romance is out of the question, needless to say, sex. I can’t meet anyone unless it’s a person that’s been previously approved through a series of background checks and of course, my parents.”

“And it’s got nothing to do with trying to take advantage of me, and eventually buying me with sex to let me allow you to bypass your parents’ restrictions to go see Toby?” He turned on his heel, now facing Eliza. She looked down at her feet, feeling a slight tinge of guilt. His tone was stern, as he continued. “I’m not your friend. I won’t be your friend. I’m not your romantic interest, and I won’t be your romantic interest. I’m just your bodyguard, and we should treat one another as such.”

“But-” Eliza began, only to be cut off by the now cloaked, neon-clad man. 

“No but’s. This is just how it is.” He crossed his arms, signifying that that was that.

\- - -

The rest of the afternoon passed by surprisingly quickly, without any hints nor mentions of what had previously happened. The conversation was oddly smooth; Dream (He had told her to call her that) was adept and skilled at switching up the topics whenever the conversation was on the verge of dying down. Eliza followed along, not having much else to do.

Nighttime fast approached, as they were called down for dinner. Dream swiftly made his way downstairs, occasionally glancing behind him to make sure that Eliza was following. Of course, Eliza thought of ditching him and taking a shot at escape but thought better against it due to Dream’s constant alertness.

They both took a seat down at the table, with Dream seated next to Eliza. The conversation at dinner was slow; her parents prodded Dream with questions, trying their best to be discreet when their actual intent was to ask after Eliza’s ploys to see Toby. He answered with vague, sometimes confusing answers, throwing them for a loop before deciding to try again. 

It seems, Eliza thought, that Dream was trying his best to respect and protect her privacy.

Eliza sighed under her breath. When were her parents going to give it a rest and finally drop it? Toby was the only thing good in her life at the moment. His lovely brown doe eyes that twinkled whenever he smiled, his soft brown hair that always smelled of strawberries, and of course, his near-constant infectious positivity.

It was all she could do to keep from getting up from the table right then and hopping on her horse to make her way to their cherry grove. It was the place that they both went to recuperate when they were feeling under the weather. A whiff of the sweet, delicate scent of the blossoms, the lighthearted chirping of the birds, and the chilling rush of the nearby brook all added to the tranquil and peaceful atmosphere, unique to the grove. It was the place that could flip any sort of negative emotions upside down on its head.

She sloshed around the gravy on her plate with her spoon, positively drowning her potatoes in the process. Crisp, roasted asparagus soon arrived on a silver platter as the maid hurried to serve her a portion.

Munching disinterestedly, she rested her cheek on her hand as she studied Dream.

He didn’t eat, of course, due to his mask. It made her wonder what lies underneath, as she made a mental note to ask him about the reasoning behind his mask later. He was doing a pretty good job getting along with her parents. They seemed absolutely enraptured in his narration of a home invasion gone wrong, prevented at the hands of himself and a few others. 

She rolled her eyes. 

_“Show off.”_ She thought, fixating her gaze back on the boring contents of her plate.

Dinner passed rather quickly after that, with her not finishing her food as per usual. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hungry; she just had no appetite. It seemed that all of her appetite was gone nowadays, due to the lack of near-daily visitations to the cheery outdoors. Basking in the sunlight seemed to be decades away, as she glumly trudged her way upstairs with Dream at her heels.

Her parents had put a pause on her outdoor freedoms. Unless supervised by an approved member of the staff, she couldn’t venture outside without a silent blockade from the guards. This would last for another two months, or until Toby’s inevitable marriage to Clara, one of the princesses from another kingdom.

Just thinking about it made her heart ache. 

Finally reaching her door at the end of the hallway, Dream unlocked it for her and gestured for her to enter first. She made a sour face. 

“Nice of you to show equal courtesy, princess.” He sarcastically commented as he shut the door behind him. Sinking into a seat on the couch, Dream scoffed. “After all my shielding against your parents’ prodding questions at dinner, you’d think that you would show more appreciation.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” Eliza sighed, taking her own seat on the couch opposite him. “Nobody does that for me anyway, so you wouldn’t be an exception.”

“Ms. Lovesick over here seeking sympathy, I see.” He chuckled, plucking a grape from the platter of fruit on the coffee table. Then, remembering that he couldn’t eat it without taking off his mask, he settled on playing with it instead. He fidgeted with the grape, tossing it from hand to hand.

After a brief pause, he “They told me about you and Toby. Was it anything real, or just a temporary distraction? Because if it was temporary, I don’t think it’s something to be losing your appetite over-”

“Shut up.” She felt herself begin to tremble, then stood up. “You don’t know anything.”

“You sure?” He looked at her in what was supposed to be a sincere way, however, ruined by his ever-smiling mask. “Sometimes, you may think that you’re in love… You can be wrong.”

Eliza looked at him. He seemed tenser than he was a few moments ago, his shoulders hunching forward, fingers pressing against one another. Dream noticed her gaze and immediately leaned back in his chair to a more relaxed sitting position. Eager to change the subject, he pointed a finger toward the picture of Toby on her mantlepiece.

“Is that the Toby boy?” Dream raised an eyebrow, looking at the picture and then Eliza. “He’s cute, alright. I can see why you would like him.”

“Yeah.” Eliza’s throat tightened. She realized then, that she really missed him. “He’s great.”

She sank back into the couch, eyes closed. Dream seemed to be tired, staying silent as he continued to play with the grape. He tossed it left and right between his hands until it was just a green blur, whizzing from one hand to the next. 

Content with the silence that has finally settled on them, Eliza thought back to Toby. And with him came the memories of their cherry grove. She smiled, letting herself loose in the sea of memories that quickly flooded her mind.

Toby had started it by himself a few years back, stumbling across a pretty piece of land near the river that separated their respective kingdoms. There was only one seemingly abandoned cherry tree then, he had told her. But with his constant nurturing and attention, it blossomed the following spring. Since then, more and more cherry trees have sprung up, leading to the need for proper fencing and maintenance.

That was how Eliza had found it, on a particularly sunny day when all she wanted to do was be outside. She had begged her parents for some free time to roam on her horse, and they had finally begrudgingly allowed her an hour to do as she pleased.

Riding her beloved steed, she made her way across town and into the rolling plains and small hills that followed. Nearing the boundary of their kingdom, she pulled back on the reins as she silently studied the sudden explosion of pink petals in front of her. The scent was overwhelmingly sweet, yet delicate, as she took a deep breath. 

Following the trail of pink petals with her eyes, she finally saw the grove of cherry trees on the opposing riverbank. There were trees after trees of pink, kept in place only by a dingy excuse of a fence. 

The grass was soft and slightly wet as she dismounted her horse. Hitching it to a nearby tree, she reached into her satchel and fed it an apple for its troubles. 

After making sure that the rope was snug and fully secure around the tree trunk, Eliza rolled up her pant legs as to cross the river easier. She braced herself for the inevitable coldness, as the water sloshed around her boots and threatened to upend her balance. Carefully wading across, she had finally reached the cherry grove. 

“Hello?” She gently nudged what was supposed to be the front fence door, made up messily of sticks and rope. It nearly fell apart as she carefully set it back on the poorly constructed fence. Wincing, she hoped that it would hold at least for the duration of her visit.

She continued walking down what was supposed to be the main path, lined on both sides with pebbles and stones. Smiling to herself, she imagined what the creator of this… cherry grove must look like.

 _“A girl of ten or younger probably found these trees... and decided to transform it into their own fairy garden.”_ Eliza gently adjusted a stray stone back into formation, as she imagined a small girl collecting stones and pebbles in her skirt and carefully distributing them along the path. She wondered if the girl was still around, as she continued down the path. If she saw her, Eliza decided, she’ll offer her help. Especially in constructing the fence.

The sky overhead was a bright, tranquil blue. Birds chirped, as Eliza decided to rest against one of the trees. Everything around was soothingly still, the only exceptions being the occasional breeze that made the petals flutter and the bright, cheerful chirps from birds overhead. It seemed that they too enjoyed the calming atmosphere of this peaceful nook.

She inhaled deeply, smiling. This was heaven on Earth.

With the hypnotizing rush of the creek and the warm sunshine pouring down, Eliza soon drifted in and out of consciousness, falling straight into sleep’s arms after just a few minutes. Her eyes fluttered shut, as she fell asleep.

\- - -

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! feel free to share this anywhere, as long as you don't repost and publish my work elsewhere. as always, leave a kudos if you enjoyed !! <3


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